Crisis Resources
Note: These Crisis Resources are good for a lot of things, but when you’re in immediate danger, there’s no substitute for calling 9-1-1.
If you’re not in immediate danger, these crisis resources are great places to find someone to talk to about what you or a friend is experiencing and what options are out there. You can also remain anonymous!
Portland Metro Area Resources
(503) 771-5503
Toll Free (888) 771-5503
emergencyservices@voaor.org
Hours of Operation:
Monday – Friday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
1 (888) 235-5333
Portland Women’s Crisis Line, or PWCL, helps people of all genders experiencing dating abuse or sexual assault. They have a 24 hour crisis line that coordinates available domestic violence shelter space around the Portland Metro area. They also have an advocate on staff who works specifically with youth.
(503) 640-5311
Proyecto Unica (503) 232-4448
The Sexual Assault Resource Center, or SARC, runs a 24-hours crisis line for teen and adult survivors of sexual assault or abuse. SARC also has a program that provides long-term support and case management for youth who’ve been forced to have sex for money.
Offers a 24-hour Spanish language crisis line, case management and advocacy, and Spanish language support groups.
Crisis Line: 503.281.2442
A domestic violence shelter in the Portland Metro area that houses women and their children. Bradley Angle House also has culturally specific services for women of color and the LGBTQ community.
1.888.654.2288
Clackamas Women’s Services provides shelter and transitional support for women working to leave an abusive relationship.
503.988.4888
A 24-hour crisis line for people experiencing or hoping to avoid a mental health crisis. They offer 24/7 crisis counseling with translation for non-English speakers and referrals to low-cost or sliding scale counseling agencies.
National Resources
1 (866) 331-9474
A 24-hour hotline with peer advocates available to talk. Help for teens, by teens.
1 (866) 488-7386
A 24-hour crisis intervention and suicide prevention hotline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer youth. They also offer internet chat with peer counselors.
1 (800) 656-HOPE
24/7 service or can connect to a
24/7 service
Alcohol & Drug Helpline
1 (800) 923-HELP
Child Abuse Reporting Hotline (Multnomah County)
(503) 731-3100
24/7 service or can connect to a
24/7 service
Are you a family member, friend, or coworker to someone experiencing domestic or sexual violence?
If someone you know is experiencing domestic violence it can be hard to know what to do and how to support them. Here are some important things to note from the National Domestic Violence Hotline:
- Educate yourself about domestic violence.
- The Power and Control Wheel can be a useful tool in understanding some of the dynamics of domestic violence.
- Emotional Support:
- Validate the survivor’s situation without judging it. It can be hard to understand why a survivor takes or does not take certain actions, but the most important thing you can do is support their decision, whatever that is.
- Offer to help them make a Safety Plan and you can be a part of that plan.
- Do not speak badly about the person causing them harm. This can come across as judgmental. Even if the survivor is saying negative things in the moment, they may choose to stay, and if you engaged and spoke negatively about the person causing them harm, they may not come back to you for support when you need it.
- Material Support:
- Help the survivor identify resources in the community for food, housing, healthcare, etc.
- Can the survivor flee to your house if they see an opportunity that is safer, and they want to leave their situation?
- Can the survivor store an ‘escape’ or ‘go’ bag at your house that contains vital records, money, banking information, birth certificates, social security cards, medications, etc. This way if they do need to flee suddenly, they have some of those essential items available to them.
- Offer to let them use your phone or computer to explore resources or make calls. If the person causing them harm is monitoring their phone or search history, this can be a powerful safety tool that you can provide.
- Educate yourself about domestic violence.
Are you a service provider working with a survivor that is also working with a Domestic and Sexual Violence (DSV) nonprofit?
You may be a nurse, police officer, Department of Human Services case manager, a property manager, employer, etc. that is working with someone who is experiencing and/or fleeing domestic and sexual violence and you want to reach out to the DSV nonprofit the survivors is working with as well. Here are some important things to know if you are contacting Home Free or another DSV provider:
- Most, but not all, providers of domestic and sexual violence services are Qualified Victim’s Services Program (QVSP). Home Free is a QVSP! If you are working with another provider, you can always ask them if they are a QSVP or not.
When an agency or program is a Qualified Victim’s Services Program (QVSP) in the state of Oregon this means a few key things to keep in mind:
- We have some of the strictest confidentiality laws of any service provider.
- We have Certified Advocate Privilege. This is like Doctor/Patient or Attorney/Client Privilege, but even stricter. We are not mandated reporters (except for a few very specific circumstances). See more information on Advocate Privilege.
- We must get our own Releases of Information (ROI). If you are another provider, you may send us your agency ROI, and we can listen to anything you want to share with us. However, we cannot confirm or deny any information without have our own written, signed, specific, time sensitive ROI that is compliant with the Violence Against Women Act, and other confidentiality laws that protect survivor’s information.
If you are a property manager in Oregon, it’s important to know that survivors are a protected class in Oregon and have specific rights in regards to housing, here is a helpful guide on survivor’s housing rights: A Safe Place to Live, some of those are:
- Submitted a 14-Day Lease Break Notice to flee domestic or sexual violence, with documentation such as a letter from a QVSP such as Home Free
- No fees are allowed for early termination. Terminated the person who is or was causing harm from the lease. And more!
- Home Free and other QVSP’s can provide a letter to serve as documentation of the abuse. It does not have to be a protection order or legal charges, but those are other options for documentation.
If you are an employer in Oregon, it’s also important to know survivor’s employment protections, you can read more about that here.
- These rights may include: a transfer to a new location, reassignment, modifying their work schedule, unpaid leave, changing their work phone number, changing their work station, installing locks, developing new safety procedures, or other adjustments after threatened or actual events.
- As an employer, you also have the duty to keep the survivor’s information confidential.
- Home Free and other QVSP’s can provide a letter to serve as documentation of the abuse. It does not have to be a protection order or legal charges, but those are other options for documentation.
If you work for the Department of Humans Services (DHS) as a case manager or supervisor. There are some helpful things to note:
- While QVSP’s are not mandated reporters, this does not mean we ‘allow’ harm to continue. We are experts at safety planning and harm reduction to promote the safety and wellbeing of the family.
- We work closely alongside the survivor (and their children or dependents), and we can do co-advocacy with DHS or any other provider, as long as the survivor wants us to, and they give us very specific details on what information we can share and what areas of their case plan we can support with in tandem with DHS.
- Some DHS locations may have co-located Domestic Violence Advocates. If your branch does, they are a great resource and can help with understanding the dynamics of domestic violence and how that may or may not be showing up for your clients.
It is also important to note if you reach out to Home Free or another QVSP and ask them to call a survivor – that’s something we do not do because we don’t know if the survivor truly wants us to call them, and it may not be safe for the survivor. It’s best to ask the survivor to reach out to us directly, or you and the survivor can call us together. At that point we can work and speak directly to the survivor and can safety plan and explore options and resources from there.
Websites to learn more about teen dating violence, sexual assault, and healthy sexuality
www.loveisrespect.org — handbooks, quizzes and other resources as well as live chats with peer advocates
www.thatsnotcool.org — games, videos and an advice column focusing on digital abuse (i.e. demanding passwords to your facebook or myspace, constant texting, etc)
www.athinline.org — info and quizzes on teen dating abuse, especially digital abuse
www.plannedparenthood.org — sexual health resources for teens
www.scarleteen.com — information about teen sexuality